Dimitri Courant is Postdoctoral Research Associate and Global Fung Fellow at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS), at Princeton University.

He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Lausanne and the University Paris 8 in June 2022. He is a democracy visiting fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School. He holds a master’s degree in political science from Sciences Po Rennes and a master’s in social sciences from the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.

His research focuses on deliberation, representation, democracy, and sortition. His qualitative fieldwork inquiry compares several case-studies, especially: the Irish Citizens’ Assemblies (Ireland); the Citizens’ Convention for Climate, and the National Great Debate (France).

His recent publications include: “Institutionalizing deliberative mini-publics? Issues of legitimacy and power for randomly selected assemblies in political systems” (2022); and “Citizens' Assemblies for Referendums and Constitutional Reforms: Is There an ‘Irish Model’ for Deliberative Democracy?” (2021).

During his fellowship year at Princeton, Courant will focus on citizens’ assemblies on climate change in an international comparative perspective.